Tag Archives: melty blood

My name is bellreisa, and I am a nobody in the fighting game community of 2013.

To many people, I am an important member of their individual niche of the overall community. Some consider me one of the figureheads of the American scene for Immaterial and Missing Power. Others have been following my performance in Melty Blood from the early days when the game was still a casual fan-made game on the PC. But to the majority, I am another nameless “anime fighting game player” out of hundreds across the country.

In the wake of Melty Blood’s recent PC release, there has been a large influx of new player who find themselves at a loss when going up against the seasoned veterans from revisions past. While there are many determining factors in a match, such as character tiers, playstyles, decisions, and so forth, there are also a number of core concepts that may be overlooked that contribute to an inexplicable loss. This article will be an overview of one subtlety that these players may not be aware of: the concept of commitment in pressure. Please keep in mind that this concept is actually universal to nearly every competitive game in existence, but the examples utilized in this article will be tailored specifically for Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code 1.07 for PC. This article is not going to go over Melty basics, so please refer to other sources for a tutorial.

Full Moon characters can Heat voluntarily, but only at Max by using Initiative Heat, or Blood Heat Activation.

Circuit Spark (“Burst”)

Crescent and Full Moons only can Circuit Spark during Max mode, and it happens voluntarily with punishable recovery. Half Moon will automatically Circuit Spark during their Heat, and their Spark has essentially no recovery (this is not 100% accurate, but the scope of Circuit Spark isn’t in this article).

Meter Gain

After Max ends, Crescent Moon characters are left with 200%, assuming they did not use an Arc Drive (leaves you at 100%) or a Circuit Spark (leaves you at 0%). Half Moon characters start over at 0%, but their bar is inherently shorter with a maximum of 200%. Full Moon characters leave Max with 100% less than Crescent Moon, meaning if they do nothing, they return to 100%, and if they use an Arc Drive or a Circuit Spark, they start over at 0%.

All Moons gain meter by attacking and defending. However, Full Moon is the only one with the option of charging to gain meter.

The key points are in italics. Melty Blood Actress Again on the PS2 was released in August 2009, and since then Full Moon has been a popular choice for certain types of players due to its more intuitive chaining system (you can’t go backwards) and relatively low learning curve compared to Crescent and Half. One thing I’ve noticed, however, is that many players don’t seem to understand proper meter management — not just within the scope of a round, but over the course of the entire match.